The Rind Guide: London’s Best Addresses for French Cheese

London has always had a serious relationship with French cheese. Whether you’re after a single exceptional wedge, the perfect celebratory cheeseboard, or an expert cheesemonger who can talk you through the difference between a young and an aged Comté PDO, here are five of the London spots that do it best. 

Paxton & Whitfield 

Winston Churchill once observed that “a gentleman buys his cheese at Paxton & Whitfield”, and the shop at 93 Jermyn Street has been proving him right since 1797. Britain’s oldest cheesemonger, easily recognised by its iconic black and gold shopfront, feels genuinely historic. Holding a Royal Warrant since Queen Victoria, their French selection is a particular strength. 

Don’t miss their hand-truffled Brie de Meaux, made exclusively for them. Available to order online, the French Classics hamper is one of the best French Cheese 101, featuring Comté PDO, Brillat-Savarin, Bleu d’Auvergne PDO, Selles-sur-Cher PDO and a fig and walnut conserve. If you’d like to deepen your knowledge, one French cheese at a time, book one of their Academy of Cheese events. 

📍 Paxton & Whitfield 
93 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6JE 
paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk 

La Fromagerie 

In 1992, Patricia Michelson opened La Fromagerie in Highbury, driven by a conviction that London deserved the kind of cheese she’d tasted in the mountains above Méribel. Three award-winning shops later (Highbury, Marylebone, Bloomsbury) that conviction has quietly shaped the city’s entire approach to artisan cheese. 

Each shop features La Fromagerie’s signature walk-in cheese room, with over 200 varieties. Summer calls for their popular French picnic box for two, filled with ash-coated Valençay PDO pyramid, fruity Cantal PDO, marbled blue Fourme d’Ambert PDO, Comté sablés and more for a perfect park feast. 

But La Fromagerie is as much a place to eat as it is to shop. The all-day café menu features some French favourites like mousse de canard, lamb navarin, or seasonal small plates built around the produce on the shelves. Monday night suppers, cheese and wine tastings, and the occasional cookbook dinner round out one of the most considered cheese experiences in the city.  

📍 La Fromagerie Marylebone 
2–6 Moxon Street, London W1U 4EW 

📍 La Fromagerie Highbury 
30 Highbury Park, London N5 2AA 

📍 La Fromagerie Bloomsbury 
52 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3LL 

lafromagerie.co.uk 

Provisions 

Provisions appear in our French wine guide too — and for good reason. Part importer, part wine and cheese shop, part supplier to half the city’s most interesting restaurants. Founded in 2015, with outposts in Hackney and Holloway, it has quietly become one of the most trusted names in the London food scene. 

The French farmhouse cheese selection is built on genuine provenance and a gift for the lesser-known. Look out for a classic Ossau-Iraty PDO from the Basque Country; a light yet buttery Chaource PDO cow’s milk cheese from Champagne; a bright and herby Fleur du Maquis ewe’s cheese from Corsica; or a Clacbitou unpasteurised goat’s cheese from the south of Burgundy. Their Cheese Canteen subscription — a monthly selection of four farmhouse cheeses with full tasting notes — is one of the best ways to explore French artisan cheese from the comfort of your sofa. 

📍 Provisions Hackney  
308 Hackney Road, London E2 7SJ   

📍 Provisions Holloway 
167 Holloway Road, London N7 8LX  

provisionslondon.com  

London Cheesemongers 

A gem of a small cheesemonger, London Cheesemongers on Pavilion Road in Chelsea carries around 50 cheeses, each earning its place on the counter. Founded by Jared Wybrow, who spent over 25 years working with producers and affineurs before opening his own shop in 2016, it operates on a simple conviction: only stock what’s tasting best at that moment and change it when something better comes along. 

The French range shifts with the seasons. Expect classics like Camembert de Normandie PDO or Roquefort PDO for a summery salad, alongside lesser-known finds like Mothais-sur-Feuille — a goat’s cheese from the Deux-Sèvres, aged on a chestnut leaf — or fresh Castillon, made from ewe’s milk in the mountains of Provence. Tasting before you buy is actively encouraged. A quiet, considered gem in the middle of one of London’s great food streets. 

📍 London Cheesemongers 
251 Pavilion Road, Chelsea, London SW1X 0B 
londoncheesemongers.co.uk 

Mons Cheesemongers 

Behind some of the best French cheese in London is a family business that began in the Auvergne in the early 1960s. MOF Hervé Mons (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), one of the country’s most decorated affineurs, sources French cheeses from specialist regional producers and matures them at his facility on the Côte Roanaise. The London operation, which opened at Borough Market in 2006, is the direct expression of that French savoir-faire on British soil. 

Today Mons has expanded, with four outposts in South London, from Bermondsey to East Dulwich. Expect seasonal Mont d’Or PDO or Beaufort PDO produced exclusively in the French Alps, and a rotating cast of regional rarities. We’re big fans of their Cheesemonger’s Tour de France selection box. Inspired by writer and cheesemonger Ned Palmer’s book of the same name, it features Comté PDO, Cantal PDO, Crottin de Chavignol PDO and Roquefort PDO.  

📍 Mons Cheesemongers Borough Market 

8 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TL  

📍 Mons Cheesemongers Bermondsey 

Spa Road, Bermondsey, London SE16 4RP  

📍 Mons Cheesemongers East Dulwich 

153 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London SE22 8HX 

mons-cheese.co.uk